British MPs demand scrutiny of US military bases amid spying reports

British MPs have called for American military bases in the UK to be properly scrutinized under cross-party proposals after evidence emerged that they are being used for mass spying activities and drone attacks.

The draft proposals that have been tabled by all three major
parties demand that the government overhaul outdated rules under
which Washington’s network of UK bases and outposts operate,
following claims of British complicity in US drone strikes in the
Middle East and eavesdropping on European allies, The Independent
reported.

The amendments, which would be debated next month, would have to
be adopted by the government to become law. But peers and senior
MPs say the current legislation – now over 60 years old – is
inadequate.

British oversight of US bases is currently based on the 1951
Status of Forces Agreement, which was drawn up long before
technology such as drones or mass surveillance were in existence.

Under the current laws, a US base is nominally under the command
of a British officer. Under the new proposals, a scrutiny panel
would be set up which would include a “member holding high
judicial office” as well as a person “with expertise in
the particular technology used and services carried out by the
visiting forces.”

“These amendments are designed to enable light to be shone on
an area causing increasing public concern. They will enable
proper scrutiny in parliament so that minsters responsible can
decide whether steps should be taken to review laws and
agreements which, in the light of innovative uses of modern
technology, appear increasingly outdated,” Lord Hodgeson,
one of the Conservative peers backing the proposal, told The
Independent.

Under the proposal, the Interception of Communications
Commissioner, who also is responsible for reviewing the
activities of Britain’s spying agencies, would have to produce an
annual report to ensure that US bases are operating within the
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA). The government
admitted last year that there is currently no requirement that US
bases comply with RIPA.

“The government cannot claim that the American bases in the
UK are accountable to anyone but the Pentagon under current
legislation. It is time we made what happens to UK citizens on UK
soil the responsibility of the UK government,” said Baroness
Miller, one of the Lib Dem peers backing the new rules.

RAF Croughton - a US Air Force base and CIA relay station in
Northamptonshire in southern England - was used last year to
funnel data back to Washington from the network of diplomatic spy
posts across Europe, known as the Special Collection Service.It
also has a secure link with a US counter-terrorism facility in
Djibouti, which is used for drone strikes in Yemen. Meanwhile,
RAF Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire is a National Security Agency
(NSA) listening facility.

Campaigners say the Pentagon’s controversial drone campaign has
killed 2,400 people in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen in the
past five years, with at least 461 civilians killed in Pakistan
alone.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) insisted that USAF staff in Britain
“neither fly nor control” any drones. But Kat Craig,
legal director of Reprieve - a group that “promotes the rule
of law around the world” - was not impressed by the MOD’s
insistence.

“It is a scandal that there is so little oversight by the
British government of potentially criminal activities taking
place on our own soil. Moves to ensure the current unquestioning
support is brought out of the shadows are therefore very
welcome,” said Craig.